


Very Civilized

by Thistlerose



Category: Firefly
Genre: F/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-08
Updated: 2011-01-08
Packaged: 2017-10-14 13:50:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/149850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thistlerose/pseuds/Thistlerose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He's still pretty bad at putting his thoughts into words. She's okay with that, though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Very Civilized

**Author's Note:**

> For Winslow_Arizona.

“It reminds me of Osiris,” Simon said, looking out across the vast snowy landscape, “except you would see the lights of Capital City all along the horizon.” He pointed. “Just this line of gold and white lights, like a line between…” He caught himself just in time and bit his lip.

“Go on,” Kaylee prompted, a certain sharpness to her tone.

Simon sighed. “I was _going_ to say, like a line between civilization and space. But I didn’t mean it in a – a negative way,” he explained quickly.

“It’s shiny. ‘Sides, we ain’t so civilized out in the black.” She elbowed him playfully in the side.

“No, and I _like_ that,” said Simon, wondering when he was going to fall headlong into a trap and whether or not extricating himself would require begging. He’d gotten pretty good at begging over the past couple of years. To the point where he actually rather liked it. Especially when it involved mild restraints and/or that ostrich feather he’d bought for her on Persephone.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah,” he said with unfeigned conviction. “Kaylee…” He pressed his mittened hands together and looked down at them pensively. The air on Mnemosyne was bitter cold; each painful exhalation produced a puff of water vapor that stood out ghostly white against the black sky. He licked his chapped lips and tried again. “What I _want_ to say is…”

She leaned into him, tilting her face up. “Us uncivilized types ain’t so bad? That it?”

“Well, yeah. But I was trying to say it in a way that wasn’t… I want to say it right.” As he traced the curve of her cheek, the wind blew her hair back, exposing the slender column of her neck. “ _Bao bay_ …” he said, stroking his fingers along the underside of her chin.

“Oh, Simon.” She flung up her hands and suddenly his face was full of freezing white powder. Blinking and spluttering, he made a grab for her, but she dodged away from him, laughing.

“ _Ta ma de_!” Choking on the cold air and melting snow, he lunged again.

She dropped low to scoop more snow into her hands, but slipped when she started to rise again, and landed hard on her butt. She tried once more to rise, fell back down, and then she just started laughing, her head thrown back, her legs splayed wide in front of her. He fell on top of her and ended up with another face full of snow, but then somehow he managed to get his arms around her shoulders, pinning her.

“You,” he panted, his heart pounding, his nerves flaring, “crazy, uncivilized…”

“Your _face_ ,” she squealed. And then she leaned up and pressed her lips to his.

Her nose was cold, as were the tears of laughter rolling down her cheeks. But her mouth was warm and sweet, so he decided to let his guard down and risk another sneak attack, cradling her face between his hands as he kissed her back. This was so much easier – and more pleasant – than trying to put his stupid ideas on love and material comforts into words. He’d been thinking of saying something along the lines of, _At least we have starlight. I’ll take that over city lights._ Yeah, he thought, shutting up and kissing her was definitely the smarter option.

Kaylee’s gloved hands worked their way into his coat. His stomach muscles clenched, but her small, knowing hands stroked him through his sweater, and it wasn’t long before his shivers became frissons of pleasure. All the same, he broke the kiss reluctantly and, leaning his forehead against hers, whispered, “Maybe we should relocate.”

She hmm’d against his lips, then laughed – a bit breathlessly – and replied, “It would be the civilized thing to do. I can’t feel my … anything.”

Simon grinned. “I’ll be happy to feel your anything once we get inside.”

He supposed he deserved to have more snow flung in his face for that. But then she started to drag him to his feet, licking the melting snow from his eyelids, cheeks, and lips as she did, and he decided that everything was perfectly shiny.

12/14/10


End file.
